Topic
Housing
755 published works
Land Use Prof Blog
The housing bust and the role of the government …
Here’s a shocker: The Washington Post reports today that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development encouraged Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to purchase subprime-mortgage-backed securities early in…
Creditors' Resource
US Home Prices Declining at Accelerated Rate
We all know the housing bubble was inflated by easy credit and that market has become totally unhinged. The Credit Market's issues are far from being sorted out. Certainly this…
Land Use Prof Blog
Today, granny flats; tomorrow …?
Where do Americans go when their houses are foreclosed? The enormous downward movement in housing demand is likely to increase the pressure on local governments to allow more non-traditional…
Land Use Prof Blog
Of history, Hitler, hofs, and hip hop …
It's settled law that demolition or alteration of buildings can be restricted by law simply because something historic happened there. But can, and should, historic preservation laws extend to…
Land Use Prof Blog
Why the housing roller-coaster? Easy credit or tough laws, or both?
Are restrictive land use laws the real culprit in the housing bubble dilemma? Yes, according to Randall O’Toole of the libertarian-minded Cato Institute. He argues that laws inflated…
Land Use Prof Blog
Why the housing roller-coaster? Easy credit or tough laws, or both?
Are restrictive land use laws the real culprit in the housing bubble dilemma? Yes, according to Randal O’Toole of the libertarian-minded Cato Institute. He argues that laws inflated…
Land Use Prof Blog
The ascent of single-family suburban slums?
I often write skeptically about the long-predicted demise of the suburbs and the return of urban living. But some interesting counter-arguments are made by Christopher B. Leinberger, of Brookings…
Land Use Prof Blog
A suburb forges ahead with its housing ban plan …
Competition encourages localities to use land use laws to foster social goals and to push away undesirable uses … and people. In the Dallas suburb of Farmers Branch, the…
Land Use Prof Blog
When there’s no home in Seattle …
The dilemma of homeless people living in public spaces is one of the most gut-wrenching in all of land use law. On one hand, the argument, “Where are the…
Land Use Prof Blog
Housing Law as Potter …
Over the Christmas weekend I watched again "It's a Wonderful Life," the great 1947 film about housing and credit (and other things, I suppose). This year, I was…